FAO NELWD Bulletin No.1, Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan

1. Bulletin No. 1
December 15, 2013
Knowledge sharing begins
Several knowledge-sharing tools and opportunities of interaction
were offered today to some 200 participants coming from 19 countries of the Near East and North Africa.
“Collaborative partnerships are key both to address
water scarcity and find innovative solutions to
better manage land and water resources”
Pasquale Steduto, FAO Deputy Regional Representative.
Thematic coffees, ad hoc trainings and communication platforms have kept busy the agenda of
government officials, practitioners and experts today.
Good practices:
why do they matter?
The very essence of a good practice is its proven
capacity of being a success story, with a clear set of
objectives and targets achieved. Sustainability
criteria should be also included, to ensure the applicability of the practice to other contexts. To be
recognized as such, a good practice must be
validated by stakeholders, preferably at the community level. A series of guidelines on how to define
and promote a good practice were presented to
participants in the opening sessions, stressing the
need of systematized knowledge sharing.
“Participants affirmed that they are actually using
some of the tools and templates we are presenting
today, this is a positive sign that we are on the right
track to document good practices in the region” Ms
Sophie Treinen, FAO Information and Knowledge
Management Officer. Good practices have been
also shared through social media. There was a
consensus on the importance of acknowledging
the strategic potential of farmers to generate a shift
in the way limited water resources are used and
managed.
Good practices have been also shared through
social media. There was a consensus on the
importance of acknowledging the strategic
potential of farmers to generate a shift in the way
limited water resources are used and managed.
“We cannot work alone, farmers have an ancestral knowledge that they can transmit to technicians and engineers; this complementarity can
ensure that our vision will have more chances of
success in the future” Kessida Mohammed,
Deputy Director of Irrigation Techniques, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of
Tunisia.
Interviewed experts highlighted the importance
of collaborative approaches in the valorization
of the water, as well as in the enhancement of
water productivity. Farmers can generate knowledge from the field that can feedback research
thus creating a virtuous circle of innovative ideas
and solutions.
“ In the past we used to have a linear module,
where ideas where going from laboratories, to
the field, to the farmers; whereas now you have a
flow of ideas from agricultural sciences to the
farmers and a flow of problems from the farmers
to agricultural scientists, these two together can
reinforce each other to find solutions which are
more effective” John Passioura, CSIRO- Chief
Research Scientist

2. Bulletin No. 1 December 15, 2013
Technologies & tools
•••
Decision making- policy analysis matrix
The policy analysis matrix is an innovative tool to
support policy makers in their efforts to calculate the
impact of revenues and investments in the field of
agriculture. The tool can be used to track the
comparative advantages in applying taxes or subsidies, thus supporting decision makers in selecting
responsive strategies. The policy analysis matrix can
also empower governments in shifting from corporate to social profitability, advancing agricultural
policies and practices at country level while integrating national productivities within the global context.
Modelling system for agricultural impacts of
climate change-MOSAICC
Successfully launched in two pilot countries
(Philippines and Morocco), the MOSAICC proved to
be an comprehensive system to asses climate
change impacts on agriculture. The implementation
Emerging Messages
Technical sessions shed lights on main
regional concerns on water and land.
Here some of the outcomes of the discussions held:
Ground Water
management
Proper allocations and good mechanisms to monitor the usage of
ground water need to be put in place
in order to limit the overexploitation
of this important resource.
More attention should be given to
the impact of ground water pollution
Practical solutions to preserve
ground water resources have been
identified, but they are very limited
in scale, scope and number.
was firstly tested through the introduction of two
crop models based on water balance. By taking
into consideration the variety of weather conditions, this system is particularly suitable for arid
countries. Different utilities were presented during
a dedicated session, including for example
AURELHY- a topoghraphy-based interpretation
method which combined predictions from regression models related to “landscape variabilities”. By
transferring the implementation of technical
components to institutions and partners, the
system can improve the capacities of national
stakeholders and ensure sustainability. MOSAICC
comprise and interactive online platform with
different tools available for participants.
Improving Agricultural Water Management and
productivity in the MENA Region: Towards a
Strategic Action Plan.
A new strategic approach for MENA countries to
achieve greater farm-and system level- water
productivity- while simultaneously enhancing
crop productivity, was presented by Ms. Qun Li,
World Bank Senior Operations Officer. This multilevel strategic approach caught the attention of
participants, as it focused on investing in infrastructures, opening up opportunities to straighten the
collaboration among national governments, water
agencies and water users.
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